Cairo named most dangerous megacity for women; London, Tokyo best: poll

London was ranked as the most woman-friendly, then Tokyo and Paris.

All fantastic cities and despite various accusations; very welcoming.

Yes, all cities have their negative aspects but that's what happens in the metropolis.

At the other end of the scale, London was named the best city, buoyed by Britain's free and universal National Health Service, as well as coming top for economic opportunities.

This is a joke right? Is it April 1st today?

One of the main reasons why I left my country for a second time and brought my wife and family back to Japan was the awfully poor health service in London. One week in advance appointments for your childrens sicknesses with your GP, terribly crowded waiting rooms whenever my wife had to visit immediately, and often having to see young trainee doctors. In Japan there is a national system for very good annual health checks yet in the London there is, ashamedly, no such system unless you pay privately. London's National Health Service has been brought to its knees by continued government cuts so I find this 'award' in very bad taste.

This 'experts' research should not be making these political awards.

I also think that the Tokyo rating for female safety is a bit of a joke, considering the ongoing issue with stalking crimes not being dealt with by the police and the same for groping on trains.

i have to agree with tigerstokyodome. i never would have placed london at the top of my list, but maybe the economic opportunities outweigh the healthcare issues.  but congrats to london ayways.

 but I have to pay quite a bit each month in premiums out of my salary 

You have NI contributions taken from your salary each month in the UK too. If you earn above the threshold, you pay 12% of your earnings between £8,164 and £45,000. Anything you earn above £45,000 a year, you pay National Insurance at 2%.

the awfully poor health service in London. One week in advance appointments for your childrens sicknesses with your GP, terribly crowded waiting rooms whenever my wife had to visit immediately, and often having to see young trainee doctors. In Japan there is a national system for very good annual health checks yet in the London there is, ashamedly, no such system unless you pay privately. London's National Health Service has been brought to its knees by continued government cuts so I find this 'award' in very bad taste.

There are walk in clinics for emergency. And your GP should be able to ring you within a couple of hours of contacting you and deciding if they can see you that day. Not ideal but triage normally worked for me.

The cuts to the NHS are a disgrace and I fear they will only get worse. And of course, people will lose their lives.

So many A&Es being closed down or under threat. Bigger catchment areas for the remaining hospitals to deal with.

Having said that; the NHS saved my bacon in the past. I'd hate to have to deal with the US system.

Just look at any UK news website (I know it is a spiteful and scaremongering rag, but Daily Mail online is a good place to start) to see that sexual attacks on women in London are not uncommon.  I know this is intended to cover off more than just that aspect, but to cite the NHS  as a positive as well as empowerment of women is also a bit off.

Also what is definition of Megacity?

Look , Women get a better deal in Tokyo & London than they do in Cairo . End of story.

Also what is definition of Megacity?

a place where more than 10 Million people are all haunched up together

With the current number of acid attacks and phone snatches by gangs on small bikes, it is quite hard to justify London as being so safe; though there were only 19 cities in the comparison, Cairo, Sao Paulo, Karachi, Kinshasa, Delhi are not really globally representative. Being female-friendly and being safe are really two quite different concepts

The 3 women that I know that have had their drinks spiked, in 1x Roppongi, 2x Shibuya would disagree.

The underbelly of Tokyo is not apparent in populace media.

The passion and desire for deviant degenerate antisocial behavior begins in early child hood. Waiting until a miscreant is capable of action is waiting too long especially when penalties fail to act as deterrents. Failure to achieve and acquire appropriate childhood behavior patterns can lead to disaster.

I could have not said better myself, chisineko!

Evrn though it only hardly collides with the article focus...

I must notf that stalking is still a major issue, if not for foreigners, but local female minority is still suffering from it. Though if this is a top, makes me scared what lies beneath it.

Is there no megacity in Saudi Arabia?

This poll is a joke, and a waist of time. It should just be based on cities, not the size of the population.

I feel this article is quite believable as it is only comparing mega cities with each other of which there is only 31. Most of these mega cities would be in third world countries and therefore culturally it is not such a high beam to be in the top of the list. Of course there would be many better places for women and health around the globe than the winners here but as they are not mega cities they are not included in the comparison.

I feel this article is quite believable ,

I'm with you on this one, it's women commenters on this board who should be giving their opinion instead of the usual suspects who comment on everything and know nothing about women's struggle in the city

The 3 women that I know that have had their drinks spiked, in 1x Roppongi, 2x Shibuya would disagree.

Being top of the list doesn't mean it's safe for women to visit or live there.

Men harass, abuse, and assault women in London and Tokyo too.

It just isn't as bad as in the other countries - not as bad as a woman being raped every quarter of an hour.

Also, if a woman is assaulted in the so-called "safest" cities, there is a chance she might be believed by the authorities and maybe only slightly blamed for the man's assault on her.

Tokyo is safe in the sense I wouldn't worry about any female acquaintance getting raped or violently attacked, but pretty much every woman I know here has suffered some form of sexual assault (mostly on the train). Women in the workplace here are treated below men, and in general the female population in Japan are treated (and often consider themselves) as baby makers who retire at home after their first child. While healthcare is pretty good here, sexual education is a joke.

Cairo, the capital of the Arab world's most populous country, fared worst globally, followed by Karachi in Pakistan, Kinshasa in Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Indian capital New Delhi.

So all these places are horrific if you are a woman? What's the common denominator here...Hmmm, let's see

What's the common denominator here...Hmmm, let's see

Men.

but pretty much every woman I know here has suffered some form of sexual assault (mostly on the train).

Apart from the indigenous gropers, the main culprits seem to be white north American males. No, I have no stats or actual evidence for this, so I can be shot down in flames for even mentioning it. As a rule, I don't use anecdotage. All I have is the word of female aquaintances over the years. Most of whom shrug their shoulders in resignation. Which is terrible.

I must stress that the vast majority of gaijin here do not harass women.

I'm with you on this one, it's women commenters on this board who should be giving their opinion instead of the usual suspects who comment on everything and know nothing about women's struggle in the city.

I wish I could vote this comment up a million times. I find it highly amusing when men start spouting off on here about how safe Japan is. Nope. Not for women. Women here just don't bother to report things because we know the cops most often won't do a thing - this ranges from rape, assault, stalking and harassment.

Tokyo is safe in the sense I wouldn't worry about any female acquaintance getting raped or violently attacked, but pretty much every woman I know here has suffered some form of sexual assault (mostly on the train).

I'm not sure why you don't worry. Japanese women are huge victims of rape. We call it date rape. Here they don't even recognize the issue. Sure, women here are probably not going to get "violently" attacked on the street/train but there is a lot of harassment, groping, and DV hidden in homes. Kind of like what is going on with Hollywood these days. Many people know, women talk about it but nothing is done. I honestly don't think I know any foreign women here who haven't been attacked in some form or another. I also don't think any of my Japanese friends haven't been date raped or felt "obligated" to sleep with a guy they didn't ant to because they paid for dinner.

Is Japan safer then Egypt? Sure. But is that really a far comparison to be making and is it really something to be proud of?

As for health care... balance. Japan has some great aspects. Some seriously horrific ones. If you get sick during business hours, great. If not, good looking a place to look after you. London has access for all though. Japan does not. Anyone suggesting everyone here has health care is looking at it from a position of having a decent job. Go speak to the day labourers, single moms and the like who do not have health care because they can't afford to pay the monthly rates. Pros and cons. The UK offers a two tier system so if you don't like the public system, go private if you can afford it.

Worlds most dangerous mega city, of of 19. I thought there was more mega Cities?

The NHS is total rubbish. It is only free at point of issue, the British pay dearly for it via compulsory deductions from their salary. Waiting lists for both GP and hospital appointments are often so long you will either die or be cured before you ever get to see a medical practitioner and then they often fob you off with pills without investigation the underlying issue. London is a sh1t hole where gangs riding mopeds rule the streets with both petty and major crimes committed. As a female you do not want to be on the streets alone after 11pm in London.

NHS is great. It's free after you pay health insurance. People from all over the world can come and enjoy free health care, which should be the same in all countries. My only gripe is that if you have a serious health problem, it takes about a year for an operation. If you are over sixty, 2 years. But small problems it is great. Japan is the same but not free and very quick.

This is London: Man stabbed in heart by moped thieves who stole his iPhone 7. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4988420/Charity-worker-stabbed-death-iPhone.html